Amanda Seyfried appears in the April Elleholding a lamb. If this sounds familiar, it's because the March issue of Elle Japan, widely distributed online, had Penelope Cruz clutching the same animal. What's up?

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Kate Berg, the head of corporate communications at Elle's parent company, offered her personal theory when we asked: "In my humble and completely random opinion, it seems like a 'Spring is Here' reference (a la –March goes out like a lamb, and Spring Lamb, etc.)" Convincing!

Of course, the association of spring with lambs isn't just seasonal; it's also religious. There's the Paschal Lamb, traced back to the Exodus story celebrated on Passover, of Jews smearing their doors with lamb's blood. There's Jesus as Agnus Dei, that sacrificial lamb of God whose resurrection is celebrated by Christians around this time. Does that make Seyfried or Cruz the Virgin Mary? Discuss.